Adaptations
by Rhovark
Summary: Sorted into Slytherin, hated by his family, Harry Potter is selected by the Goblet of Fire to be the Hogwarts Champion. However, Harry is furious when he finds out that his arch rival, Neville Longbottom, the Boy who Lived, managed to worm his way into the tournament as well. Slytherin!Harry Dark!Harry BWL!Neville.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- Umm.. Hi. I've tentatively abandoned my other story, "Where Eagles Dare", on account of it being awful, and me starting it with no idea how the plot'll work out. If anyone wants to pick it up, send me a PM and I'll send them the chapters. So, New Fic! Harry's a Slytherin, with a family who hate him. Sound familiar? As always, JKR owns all.**

Harry stepped into the compartment.

"Morning ladies," Harry said charismatically and sat down on the seat opposite Malfoy, stretching his legs out. Crabbe and Goyle grunted at him, while Zabini gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

"Hi, Harry," Draco said. "How was summer with your _family_?" Harry scowled.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," he said sarcastically. "I got into an argument with David and I ended up throwing a chair at him. I missed, but I've never seen my parents that furious before. I was pretty much locked in my room for the rest of the holiday and couldn't go to the World Cup with them. They took Hedwig away, so I couldn't write, put bars on my window, so I couldn't receive letters and occasionally forgot I was there and didn't feed me."

"Sounds worse than normal.." Blaise commented.

"D'you know what the last thing my father said to me before I boarded the train was?" Harry asked bitterly. "He said "_If I get a single letter from Dumbledore, or Dave writes home to me once, complaining, you're disowned. If you're still an arrogant little knob next summer, you're disowned. Don't think I won't, boy. You've been given too many chances as it is. If it wasn't for your mother, I would've done it as soon as you were home at the start of the summer._" He then twisted my ear and turned away. Such a _charming _man..." There was an awkward silence. "Where's Nott?"

"Oh, he was just saying bye to his parents when I got on, he'll be along in a minute." Blaise said. At one minute to 11, Nott arrived in the compartment.

"Nott." Harry acknowledged.

"Potter." Came the response. There air in the compartment seemed to get colder, as both glared at the other. Nott sat down at the far end of the compartment, as far away from Harry as possible.

"Guess what's happening at Hogwarts this year?" Draco said, breaking the tension. "The Triwizard Tournament!" Harry's eyes shot up from the book he was reading at that.

"No way," Harry said, disbelievingly. "They wouldn't.."

"Oh, but they would," Draco said gleefully.

"What's this tournament thing you're on about?" Blaise asked, confused. Nott looked at him condescendingly and sighed.

"The Triwizard Tournament is a competition between the three largest magical schools in Europe- Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. A competitor is picked from each school and they must compete in events. The tournament was cancelled in the 1800s due to the high death toll." He said.

Blaise gulped. "Death toll? What were they facing? Manticores?"

"As it happens, yes," Nott said. In fact, I recall one particular event where all three champions were trampled to death by one."

"I'm competing." Harry announced. Nott snorted.

"You, Potter? Why in the world would you compete?" Nott asked sneeringly.

"I'm assuming there's a monetary prize for the winner, right?" Harry asked. Draco nodded. "Well, if I win, I can be financially independent and leave my so-called family, once and for all."

"But, what if you die?" Draco asked sceptically.

"The ministry wouldn't've let it go ahead if it wasn't going to be safe."Harry said dismissively.

"Even so..." Blaise said.

_"Slytherin!" the sorting hat announced. There was a gasp from the Slytherin table. Harry Potter, son of James Potter, the famous auror, a Slytherin? Unthinkable.._

_"Unlucky, Potter, getting sorted into Slytherin," Nott said that night. "You see, we don't accept filthy blood traitors such as yourself in here." Crabbe and Goyle were with him and together, they'd forced him into a corner._

_"My friends here are going to teach you about your place in Slytherin house, Potter," Nott sneered. "Just so you know what to expect..." Harry looked around the common room for help- nobody had bothered to move- nobody was even looking in their direction. Harry surmised that this sort of thing must be commonplace. He saw a moving portrait of a large, black snake on the wall._

_"Help!" he said to the snake desperately. The common room was silent. Nott jumped back, as did Crabbe and Goyle. Everyone turned around to look at him. At this point in time, Harry was scared shitless._

_"What did you just do?" Nott asked, cautiously._

_"I asked for help," Harry said. An older boy stood up, shoved Nott out of the way and walked over. He pointed his wand at the ground in-front of Harry. Harry flinched. A snake came slithering out of the older boy's wand, looking menacingly at Harry. _

_"Say something to it," the older boy instructed. _

_Harry, too frightened to disobey said, "Hello, snake." Harry received the largest shock of his life when the snake replied. "Hello, human."_

_"It just spoke to me! Did you hear it?" Harry said, excited. The older boy shook his head._

_"No, Potter. No-one else can hear it. Only you. You're a Parseltongue, Potter." The boy held out his hand. "Welcome to Slytherin."_

Later on in the journey, about an hour before the train was due to arrive, Draco stood up.

"C'mon, Harry, Crabbe, Goyle." he said. "It's time for our traditional trip to Longbottom's hovel." Harry stopped reading his book and got up with a grin. It'd been ages since he'd last antagonised the Gryffindors, and he couldn't wait to get back into the swing of things. It took them about five minutes to find their compartment. Draco barged the door open.

"Ah.. Longbottom. So nice to see you again." Draco said. "Oh look, your pet mudblood and blood traitor are in here too! What a surprise." Weasley's face turned an odd shade of red at this, while the Granger girl just glared up at them.

"Go away Malfoy." Longbottom said irritably.

"Or what?" Harry smirked. "Will you tell your parents? Oh wait..." Crabbe and Goyle snorted at this. Longbottom's eyes narrowed.

"At-least my parents loved me, Potter." he said. "Have a nice summer, locked in your room? Oh yes, David told me all about that..." Harry didn't even flinch.

"I'd rather stay with anyone but the vulture you call a grandmother." Harry snarled. "Even _my _family, and I hate them."

"Piss off Potter!" Weasley shouted. "Why d'you even bother coming in here?"

" Subtle, Weasley. Things like that make me wonder why your sister is the outcast of your family, and not you. It's very simple Weasley, even you should be able to understand. We enjoy annoying you." Weasley stood up, as did Longbottom.

"So Longbottom, are you going to enter? It'd be just like you, wouldn't it. Ever the glory hunter.." Malfoy drawled.

"What are you talking about, Malfoy?" Longbottom asked, annoyed. A look of glee appeared on Malfoy's face.

"You mean, you don't know?" Malfoy asked incredulously. "I thought your pet Vulture was _friends_ with Fudge.. Obviously Fudge doesn't take his friends very seriously.. I knew Weasley's father wouldn't have heard, because he's a nobody, and Granger's a mudblood, so who would tell her anything, but you? I expected you to know. Oh well, you'll find out when we get to Hogwarts then. Goodbye, freaks." With that, the foursome walked out of the compartment.

At the feast, Harry sat next to Malfoy, glaring at his brother over at the Gryffindor table. _Why did he have to be such a prat?_ Currently, his brother was attempting to show Peter McIntosh, a friend of his, how much trifle he could stuff in his mouth at once. _So uncivilised.. _Dumbledore cleared his throat, signalling the start of a speech. Harry half-paid attention, while looking over at his brother.

"..fanged frisbees have been added to the list of forbidden items, which I have been told, is on Mr Filch's door, should you feel the need..." David sneezed, spewing a mixture of trifle and mucus all over the table. One girl shrieked. Dumbledore glanced over, amused. "Thank-you, Mr Potter, for that exquisite delicacy you have just showered your housemates with." David looked considerably embarrassed. "Now, onto my next point. This year, Hogwarts will play host to a very important event- The Triwizard Tournament.. the ministry has decided, in their great wisdom, to lower the original age barrier of 17, to 14." Dumbledore sighed heavily at this, while there was a cheer from the students- including Harry.

That evening, Harry, Draco and Blaise were on their way upstairs to the dorm, when Harry's eyes caught an unmistakable vivid red ponytail.

"I'll be up in a minute," Harry muttered. Draco turned around and sighed.

"I don't know why you bother with her, Harry. She's a Weasley. A _Blood Traitor,_" he emphasised.

"And I'm a Potter. My family's as blood traitor as hers." Harry argued back. "She's my friend. And anyway, I need someone to compare summers with." He walked over to Ginny. She saw him coming over and smiled at him.

_"Slytherin!" the hat shouted. The hall went silent. Not even the Slytherins clapped. The girl on the stool went bright red. She seemed unable to move with shock._

_"NO!" came a shout from the Gryffindor table. Ron Weasley had stood up._

_"No way is my sister a Slytherin!"he shouted, angrily. "Ginny, come over here and sit with the Gryffindors!"_

_"No!" Dumbledore spoke up. "The Sorting Hat has chosen. Miss Weasley, please join your new housemates," he said sharply._

_"Professor!" One of the Weasley twins interjected. "She's a Weasley, she's _got_ to be a Gryffindor!"_

_"I wouldn't be so sure, boy!" the Sorting hat, still on Ginny's head cackled. "She's not like the rest of you Weasleys. She will do great things in Slytherin, great things indeed." Ginny looked positively terrified, unsure of what to do._

_"Ginny, please," Ron begged. "Come over to the Gryffindor table. Sit with us. We're your family."_

_"Miss Weasley, please join your new housemates," Dumbledore intoned. Ginny didn't move, she seemed torn between her family on one hand, and the headmaster's wishes on the other. "Minerva, if you please?" McGonagall directed Ginny over to the Slytherin table, where she sat, silently crying._

_A few weeks later, Harry saw her walking to class by herself and went over to talk to her._

_"Hey," he said. She glared at him._

_"Are you here to make fun of me, like everyone else?" she asked angrily. "Because I'm a blood traitor? Because I'm a Weasley? Or because I'm a Slytherin and a traitor to my family?" Harry laughed._

_"I had exactly the same problem that you're having now, when I was sorted." He said. Ginny snorted. "I doubt it," she said._

_"I'm a Potter." her eyes widened._

_"As in..." she began._

_"Yes, as in the son of the famous auror James Potter," Harry finished. "They hated me too, in the beginning. Called me blood traitor, half-blood.. There're only two ways to make your next seven years bearable- Either find a way to transfer yourself to Gryffindor with your family..." _

_Ginny's eyes hardened. "No. They've been nothing but mean to me since my sorting. I won't go crawling back to them." _

_Harry smiled. "Or you find a way to make the Slytherins accept you.."_

_"Like what?" she asked._

_Harry's grin widened. "Show them that you're a true Slytherin."_

"Hi, Ginny," Harry said, smiling.

"Harry!" she ran over to hug him.

"How was your summer?" he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Same old, I guess. Fred, George and Ron tried to make my life hell, but I weathered it."

"What about your parents?" Harry asked. Ginny scowled.

"Oh, they didn't do anything themselves, but they didn't stop the boys. They obviously resent me, but are far too cowardly to say anything. What about your summer, Harry?" she asked.

"I got into a small argument with Dave, threw a chair at him, and was locked in my room for the rest of the summer," Harry shrugged nonchalantly. " Gave me lots of time to do my homework.. Did you get to go to the World Cup?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't that good. I was stuck in the tent for most of the time, and my brothers wouldn't let me out of their sight, for some reason. Did you hear about the death-eater attacks?" Harry did a double take.

"Death-Eater attacks? Where?" Harry asked, surprised.

"At the World Cup! Wow, your family really didn't tell you anything, did they." Ginny said. "It's odd that Malfoy wouldn't have mentioned it either, considering his Dad was almost certainly one of them..."

"Yeah..."

"So, what d'you think about the tournament? Are you going to enter? I would, but I'm too young.." Ginny trailed off.

"I think so. I mean, it's a long shot, but if I win, I'll be able to leave my family for good with all of the money I have." Harry said.

"Well, I'll be cheering for you," she said, heading up the stairs to the girls dorms. "Night, Harry,"

"G'night Ginny,"

**A/N This may be a Harry/Ginny, or a Draco/Ginny, or Harry with somebody else. However it will absolutely NOT be a Harry/Draco. Give me your thoughts. M.**


	2. Chapter 2

**JKR owns** **all. **

Moody hobbled into the classroom, his magical eye whizzing around, finding Harry and staying there. Harry gulped. The noise died down immediately.

"My name is Professor Moody, and I will be your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." Moody said in a gruff voice. "I don't see the point in waiting around, so lets get started. UNFORGIVABLE CURSES!" he shouted. Several people jumped back in their seats. "Who knows one?"

Harry raised his hand. "The Imperius curse," he said. Moody nodded.

"What's your name, boy?" Moody asked aggressively.

"Harry Potter," Harry said. Moody laughed.

"Oh, yes. Your father mentioned you, Potter. I'll be keeping my eye on you.."

"I'll bear that in mind, sir." Harry said sardonically. Moody narrowed his normal eye.

"Well then, Potter. Since you're smart enough to make comments, perhaps you could tell me what the Imperius does?"

"Complete control." Harry said. "It gives the caster complete control over the target."

Moody nodded, and wrote it on the board, magical eye still trained on Harry. He lifted a spider out of a box on his desk.

"Engorgio." The spider grew to the size of a dinner plate. Weasley visibly moved his chair back.

"Imperio." The spider immediately relaxed, and stopped scuttling around the desk. All of a sudden, it started tap dancing. Several people started laughing.

"Think it's funny, do you?" Moody said. The spider moved over towards the fire. "I could make it walk through fire, kill itself right now, and it wouldn't hesitate. "There's a reason that this curse is unforgivable. I could do the same to any one of you, make you jump out of the window if I wanted to." Nobody was laughing any more. "Not so funny now, eh?"

"Somebody else, now! Finnegan, how about you?"

"Uhhm... the Cruciatus curse." Finnegan said shakily.

Moody nodded. "What does it do, boy?"

"I'm not sure.." Finnegan said, going red.

"Pain," Harry called out. "It causes extreme pain." Moody swivelled his magical eye around to him.

"You seem to have an impressive knowledge of dark curses, Potter," Moody said suspiciously. _It's too easy to wind this nutter up.._

"Thank-you, sir," Harry said innocently. From the seat beside him, Draco snorted. Moody glared.

Moody pointed his wand at the spider on the table. "_Crucio!_"

The spider twitched spasmed, obviously in significant pain. After 20 seconds of complete silence, he lifted the spell. Nobody spoke for a minute.

"MALFOY!" Moody shouted. "Name the third and final Unforgivable!" Draco jumped, losing his composure for a second.

"The Avada Kedavra Curse," Malfoy said, looking around to see if anyone noticed. Moody nodded.

"_Avada Kedavra_!" The room filled with a bright green light. When it subsided, the spider was lain on the table, on it's back, dead.

"The Killing Curse." Moody said. "No shield will block it, no charm will save you. It kills on touch. Without exception. Only one person has survived it, and they're sitting right in-front of me." All eyes were on Longbottom in an instant.

Moody, in his great wisdom, decided it would be a good idea to start performing the imperius on members of the class. Draco recited the alphabet backwards with a lisp and Weasley declared his undying love for Longbottom. Soon, it was Longbottom's turn.

"Stay still, boy," Moody said to Longbottom. "_Imperio._"

Longbottom put on a stupid face, then whacked his knee off of the table. Moody lifted the curse, excited.

"Did you see that? Longbottom fought it! Good lad, again!" Moody put him under the curse again and again, for several minutes, until he could fight it fully.

"Potter." Moody said, with a look of sadistic glee on his face. Harry stood up and turned to face him, dreading what was coming. No doubt Moody would make him do something exceptionally humiliating...

Then, there was calm. Harry felt like all of his worries in the world had been washed away, and in their place the soothing sound of the wind, rustling through the trees. Then, he heard a voice. "_Take off your glasses._" Harry flinched at the odd request.

"Umm..."

"_Take off your glasses._"

"Why?"

"_I said, take off your glasses._" It was incredibly tempting to give in, but Harry was determined not to give Moody any satisfaction.

"NO!" This was shouted aloud, and the entire class flinched. Moody looked incredibly perturbed.

"Potter fought it off completely on his first shot!" Moody said, confused. "Well done. There may be hope for you yet, boy.." He then walked out of the classroom, confused. Harry could feel the magical eye trained of him all the way out into the corridor, and shuddered.

"...and then, he fought it off! On his first shot! He looked really constipated for a second, then shouted 'NO!' Moody just about shat himself!" Montague and Pucey both collapsed into guffaws. Harry snorted. _Trust Draco to over-dramatise it._ Picking at his dinner, he looked over to the Gryffindor table, and saw his brother glaring directly at him. Harry sneered at David and went back to his dinner.

Once he had finished, he made his way out into the corridor, leaving Draco to cozy up with the sixth years. As soon as he was out in the corridor, one David Potter, stood in his way.

"What!?" Harry asked irritably. "Do you have some reason for bothering me?"

David puffed out his chest pompously. "_I_ have a message from Mum and Dad," he said proudly.

"Well?" Harry said impatiently. "I already have an essay due from McGonagall, so make it quick!"

David put on his best _grown-up _voice. "Under no circumstances are you to enter the tournament. If you do, you'll be disowned."

"They do realise, that if I don't get picked as champion, they have no way of knowing if I entered, and if I do get picked, I would be in the public eye, and disowning me would lead to bad publicity for the family?" Harry smirked. David just scowled at him. "Run along to your little Gryffindor friends now, Davey." Harry ruffled his hair then shoved past him, walking down to the dungeons.

_The Hogwarts Express slowly pulled into the station. James, Lily and David Potter, were in the crowd of anxious parents braving the cold weather to see their children home for Christmas. Soon, a small boy with messy black hair got off the train with his trunk, spotted his parents, and ran over to them as fast as he could. The older Potters smiled at Harry, giving him a hug each._

_"You promised that you'd write every week!" Harry whined over dinner that evening. "You only wrote once, and barely told me anything..." The smiles dropped from the faces of Lily and James. _

_"Yes honey, but your father and I have been very busy, so it has been difficult to find the time to do anything." Lily said._

_"That's not true!" a ten year old David piped up, completely unaware. "Daddy told you that you shouldn't write to him because he was a Slytherin, and Potters shouldn't be Slytherins!"_

_Upon hearing that, Harry's face fell. His eyes began to water._

_"Harry, wait!" Lily cried._

_"I'll finish my meal in my room." he said emotionlessly, before turning and walking up the stairs._

_Later on that evening, Harry was sitting at the desk in his room, his tears blotching the ink on his letter to Draco, when there was a knock on his door._

_"Go away!" Harry sniffled, but the door opened anyway. His mother stood in the doorway._

_"Harry, let me explain, please," she begged. Harry got off his chair and ran to his four poster bed, scrambling inside and pulling the curtains shut. To her surprise, when she tried to open them, they didn't move. However, she was unrelenting._

_"I'll just explain out here. You can listen if you want," she said. "Every firstborn male Potter in recorded history has been a Gryffindor. Your father, your grandfather, your great grandfather... as far back as can be traced, all Gryffindors. Breaking that tradition was a real shock for your father and I." She paused for a second. "We were wondering, if there might be something wrong with you- some genetic defect, causing you to exhibit more Slytherin characteristics. You should've been a Gryffindor, and after the healers have tested you and removed anything untoward, you'll be resorted." Harry appeared from behind the curtains._

_"Resorted!?" he said, close to sobbing. "Why would I want to be resorted? I have friends in Slytherin, and like it there. I am a Slytherin!"_

_"You see? That's the sort of attitude that could be caused by a defect!" she said. Harry's features contorted with rage._

_"I have no defect! I am a normal human, you.. you.." Harry paused, thinking of a word. "you mudblood!" Harry sobbed, shutting the curtains. Lily walked out of the room in shock. She went downstairs to the front room, where James was sitting._

_"Well? How'd he take the idea?" James said brightly._

_"Not well." said Lily, her voice oddly detatched. "He.. he called me a mudblood."_

_James' face went purple with fury. "He what?" he said in a quiet voice, with an undertone of malice. "That boy needs to learn that.. that word.. is not an acceptable thing to call anyone, especially not his OWN MOTHER!" His voice shook around the house as he stood up, to go up to Harry's room._

_"James, he didn't know what he was saying..." Lily reasoned, pulling on his leg to get him to sit back down. "Remember, the defect, James. It's controlling him! We'll drag him to the St Mungo's tomorrow to get him tested, then we can have peace."_

_"OK," James growled. "But if it turns out he said it of his own will, then there will be no Christmas for that boy." Lily nodded, despite the growing dread inside of her, knowing that nothing would turn up on the test. _

_Lily was the last one to go to bed that night in the Potter household. She snuck into Harry's room, finding his pillow soaked with tears, his chest heaving up and down with his soft snores. She kissed him on the forehead._

_"One day, I'll tell you the truth, Harry. One day, when you're old enough to keep a secret, I'll tell you."_

**A/N- Hi! Thank you to everyone who read my story. In answer to your reviews, personally, I'm not a big fan of Harry/Bellatrix. I mean, she's 40ish years older than him. Harry/Carrows? I've never read one of those before, and it sounds kind of disgusting. Harry/Daphne or Harry/Astoria are both possibilities. Harry/Pansy sounds interesting. I'm still a Harry/Ginny kinda guy, but Draco/Ginny sounds good too. R&R please. M.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer- JKR owns all**

Harry and Draco stepped forwards in the Entrance Hall, to the cheers of the other Slytherins. Confidently, Harry swaggered over the age line, and dropped the piece of parchment into the Goblet. Written on it, in neat cursive letters- 'Harry Potter'. Harry turned around, did a mock bow, and stepped back over the age line, walking over to the rest of the boys.

"You're such a drama queen, Harry," Blaise said, shaking his head. "I don't even know why you'd enter in the first place."

"Because he's a disgrace to Slytherin and feels the need to prove himself?" Nott supplied. Harry glared at the boy.

The three waited as Draco put his name in, and walked back to them.

"None of you have anything to do this afternoon, do you?" Draco asked. Everyone shook their heads.

"Well, why don't we just sit up here until the feast tonight?" Draco suggested. "We can watch the others put their names in, have a laugh without Crabbe and Goyle..." Everyone perked up at that. The two trolls were in the common room, finishing their Potions Essay. " Who knows, we could actually have some intelligent conversation for once... The Beauxbatons students haven't put their names in yet, so we can watch the pretty French birds from up here," He climbed up the steps, sitting halfway to the top.

"Sounds good to me," Harry said, sitting down beside him. The other two followed suit. Most of the afternoon was spent with idle chitchat.

"So Harry, what's between you and the Weasley girl?" Draco asked, evil smirk on his face. Nott and Zabini both snapped out of the light doses they were in and started listening intently. Instead of becoming embarrassed, Harry didn't miss a beat.

"What's it to you, Draco? Interested?" Harry grinned.

"Never!" Draco spat. "I would never sully myself with such filth." Harry's eyes narrowed.

"Careful, Draco." Harry warned. "Ginny's my friend, and we both know who the better dueller is out of the two of us..."

The sun was setting out of the window, when finally, the Beauxbatons students arrived to put their names in. They moved with an elegance and grace seemingly alien to most of the Hogwarts population. One by one, they moved up to put their names into the goblet, receiving applause every time.

Eventually, evening came and it was time to go to the Hallowe'en feast. Nobody really paid much attention to the food. They were all too excited about the goblet to eat. The goblet had been moved into the Great Hall, and sat at the foot of the staff table. All of a sudden, it burst into flames. Everyone quietened. Dumbledore stood up.

"It appears, that the Goblet is ready to make it's decision," he announced. "Champions, when your name is announced, please make your way into the room on my left." A small slip of parchment flew out of the goblet, landing in Dumbledore's hand. Harry waited with baited breath. "The Beauxbatons champion is... Fleur Delacour!" There was polite clapping from around the hall as a beautiful blonde girl stood up and made her way over to the room. Another bit of paper flew out. "The Hogwarts champion is..." What could only be described as a frown crossed Dumbledore's face. "Harry Potter!" The Slytherin table exploded. Harry stood up, on a massive adrenaline high, walking over to the room. He couldn't believe it. Him! The Hogwarts Champion! He wondered how his family would react, briefly glancing over to the Gryffindor table. If looks could kill...

Harry entered the room. The Delacour girl was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, nose turned upwards.

"Congratulations, I guess." Harry said uncertainly. "I'm Harry Potter, Hogwarts Champion."

"You are a bit leetle for this, no?" she sniffed. "I thought you 'ad to be fourteen to enter the tournament.." Harry drew himself up to full height.

"I _am _fourteen, for your information." he said coldly, getting angry. "And you will struggle to find a fourteen year old more competent."

Krum entered the room moments after, nodding at them both, staying silent. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes- Krum wasn't very talkative, and Delacour and Harry didn't want to speak to each other. But that didn't matter to Harry. This was his time.. he could finally break free of his family, show them the masssive mistake that they'd made by shunning him, and prove himself to the world.

Longbottom entered the room, red-faced and looking sheepish.

"What is it, Longbottom?" Harry asked, annoyed at being interrupted from his thoughts. "Do they want us back in the hall?"

"Umm..." The judges all rushed into the room, looking rather stressed and shocked. Dumbledore grabbed Longbottom and turned him, so that their eyes were meeting.

"Neville, this is very important. Did you put your name in the Goblet?" Dumbledore asked. _Please god no..._

"No! I didn't want to compete in the first place! I wanted a year without endangering my life!" Longbottom said angrily. _This isn't happening. Please god, let them be talking about the gobstones tournament..._

"Did you ask an older student to put your name in?"

"I already told you, no!" Longbottom all but shouted. Dumbledore nodded and backed off.

"But of course, he eez lying!" Delacour exclaimed. "Eet is a chance that many would die for, eternal glory!" Moody slipped into the room, closely followed by Snape.

"Maybe that's what somebody's hoping for, Miss Delacour," Moody said. "Maybe someone's hoping that Longbottom'll die for it.."

"What I want to know Dumbledore, is how the boy is allowed to compete?" Karkaroff said. "The rules clearly state.."

"The rules state that once your name comes out of the Goblet, you have to compete, Karkaroff. Nothing else." Moody said. Karkaroff looked furious.

"Was this Hogwarts' secret plan, then?" he hissed venemously. "Two champions, twice the chance at victory, eh? Well, I won't stand for it. I can't speak for Madame Maxine and her champion, but me and Viktor will be leaving tomorrow!"

"Empty threat, Karkaroff. Your champion is bound to compete, same as everyone else." Moody growled.

"Then it's settled. Neville's bound to compete, the same as the others," said Dumbledore, tiredly. "The first task will be on the twenty-second of November. Now, I suggest you all go back to your dorms now. Your classmates will surely be throwing a party in your honour." Dumbledore and all the members of staff left, leaving the four champions in the room together. As soon as they left, Harry immediately advanced on Longbottom.

"I bet you loved that, didn't you, Longbottom." Harry spat. "Was that your plan all along? Entering the normal way too _mainstream_ for the boy who lived?"

"Shut the fuck up, Potter. I don't want me to be in this tournament any more than you do." Neville replied murderously. "I don't need the money, I'm rich. I don't want the glory- I just want to be left alone."

"You're lying." Harry said. "You're a bastard, and I hope this tournament kills you." With that, he walked out.

Walking down to the dungeons, Harry could almost feel his anger boiling over. The rage was filling him, he felt the need to curse something into oblivion. Unfortunately, there were no first-years around, so Harry stumbled into the nearest abandoned classroom. He fired off the first spell that came to mind.

"Avada Kedavra!" The green light flew out of Harry's wand, hitting the wall on the other side of the room.

"Careful, Mr Potter. We don't want the headmaster finding out about this, do we?" an easily recognisable voice spoke from the shadows.

"Professor!" Harry jumped as Snape appeared.

"Listen to me, Mr Potter. Longbottom is nothing. He will not win. He will not come close. He isn't even a competitor. Forget about him completely." Green eyes peered into black. "In order to win, you must focus entirely on yourself. These students have three years of knowledge over you. You aren't even _close_ in terms of skill. I fully expect you to spend your evenings working on the tournament. I will tutor you personally, three times a week- Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday- starting tomorrow. Tell no-one. My office, noon." With a swish of his cloak, Snape turned and fled.

"There he is!" somebody shouted.

"The man of the hour!" Montague and Flint ran up to the common room door, and lifted him up, above their heads. People cheered throughout the common room.

After what seemed like an age, they put him down beside Draco.

"Congratulations, Potter," Draco said, giving him a pat on the back. "If I couldn't get it, I'm glad you did."

"Thanks," Harry replied, surprised at the level of maturity coming out of Draco. Last year, Draco would've taken a fit then shunned him for days if Harry had gotten something that he didn't.

"That was some odd business with Longbottom though, wasn't it?" Draco slurred, after downing a firewhisky. "There are two possibilities. Either someone's trying to kill him, or he's trying to kill himself! Either way, I'm OK with it..." He wandered across the room absentmindedly. Harry looked over at Ginny, who was sitting with her friends, nursing a cup of butterbeer.

"I'm glad somebody's been responsible and taken away your firewhisky," Harry grinned, walking over.

"Congratulations, Mr Potter," Ginny said, moving over in the sofa to create room for him to sit down. "Hogwarts Champion!" Harry squeezed into the small space, uncomfortably placed between Ginny and Astoria Greengrass.

"_One of the _Hogwarts Champions," Portia Travers piped up from the armchair opposite them, running her fingers through her long brown hair. "One mustn't forget everyone's favourite hero, Neville Longbottom!" The girls all snickered, while Harry scowled.

"Of course, now that Harry's a champion, he'll be a massive girl magnet!" Greengrass said, squeezing Harry's thigh. Harry began to feel rather hot and bothered.

"Umm..." he said. Greengrass and Portia giggled, while Ginny's face went immediately blank. Harry was rather uncomfortable with the entire situation and got up, thankful that they wore loose fitting robes in Hogwarts rather than trousers.

_They were in transfiguration. Ginny walked into the class, sitting at a table by herself, behind the other Slytherins. Nobody came to sit next to her, but she was sitting near enough to the Gryffindor boys that she could pick up on their conversation. She took a deep breath, remembering what Harry had told her. The best way to get herself accepted was to bully a muggle-born. She didn't have to like it, but it was a failsafe way to make her life much easier. Halfway through the lesson, their talk turned to Neville Longbottom. One of the muggle-borns, Creevey, seemed very excited to meet the boy._

_"D'you think he'd have a picture taken with me?" Creevey asked his friend. Ginny saw her opportunity to strike._

_"Of course he would," she lied. Creevey almost jumped up with glee, moving round in his seat to face her._

_"Really?" he squealed. Ginny took a deep breath. Now or never._

_"Of course not!" she scowled. "You're a _mudblood! _If Longbottom has any self respect, he wouldn't be seen talking to you, let alone having a picture taken with you!" Creevey now looked as if he was about to cry.._

_The Slytherins turned round, having overheard the conversation and started snickering._

_Unfortunately, McGonagall overheard too. "Detention, Miss Weasley!" she said furiously._

_After class, the Slytherins came up to her. "I think we got off on the wrong foot, Weasley," Greengrass said. "It seems you may not be as blood traitor as your name suggests." She held out her hand. "Astoria Greengrass." Ginny smiled, returning the handshake._

_"Ginevra Weasley. It's a pleasure."_

**A/N Merry Christmas! I'm going to put a poll up on my profile so you can vote on pairings. I'll even put Harry/Bellatrix up (ugh) since you all seem so keen on it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N- I own nothing.**

"Come in, Potter." Snape called. Harry opened the door and walked into Snape's office. Snape was sitting behind his desk, marking papers.

"Tell me, Potter, what skills do you have?" Snape asked without looking up.

"What?"

"What skills do you have that would be useful in the tournament?" Snape clarified, finally looking up. "What do you know that would be useful, if you were to come across, say, a dragon?" His black eyes bore into Harry's. Harry gulped.

"A Dragon? Well, my skill in defence wouldn't be much use there.. I can't fly to save myself.. if I could, I would just fly around it. I can't fight it, I can't get away from it, so my only remaining solution would be for it not to see me at all?" Harry asked. Snape nodded, seeming impressed.

"How would you go about doing this?" he asked. Harry thought for a moment.

"In this hypothetical task you've thought up, what are we allowed to face the dragon with?" Harry asked.

"Just your wand." _Hmm...David's cloak?_

"Are we allowed to summon things?" Harry asked. Snape looked thoughtful.

"I'm not sure, I'll have to ask." It was at that moment that Harry realised that they were not talking about a hypothetical task, but the real one. "It's still better to have a back up plan, though."

"Professor, is there a better version of the Disillusionment charm?"

"I have heard of such a thing. However, I do not know it, so cannot teach it to you. There is a book in the library called 'The Art of Hiding'" He got out a piece of parchment. "Here, is a pass to the restricted area of the library. Go there now, and work on it until dinner. Come here on Tuesday evening with your findings." With that, Snape ushered him out of the office.

Harry walked up from the dungeons, thinking about the dragon, and inwardly he was turning to jelly. _A fucking Dragon!_ _Why did I enter this pointless competition?_ His answer was just around the corner.

"Harry!" David shouted from the other end of the corridor. _Just what I needed.._

"What?!" Harry shouted back, annoyed. David walked over smugly.

"I'm supposed to give this to you. It's from Mum and Dad." Harry grabbed the letter out of his hand. "Personally, I think that you're in for it now." David said smugly. "You were warned not to enter the tournament, and you ignored it. We're going to have to call you Harry no-name now.." Harry grabbed him by the front of his robe, twisted it and shoved him against the wall. David gave a little squeal.

"Well then, it's a good thing I don't take into account your opinion, isn't it?" Harry whispered threateningly. David dropped to the ground with a thud as Harry then turned and walked away, letter safely hidden away in his robe.

Upon reaching the library, he showed his restricted pass to Madam Pince, who narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, before allowing him through the iron gate into the restricted section.

It was quiet in the library, being a Sunday afternoon, and the restricted section was empty. Harry put his bag down at a nearby desk, and started searching the shelves for the book. After a few minutes, he found it. It was a large, leather bound book, seemingly several hundred pages long- "The Art of Hiding" by Raczidian. _Odd name_... He turned to the first page. _The first thing one must understand about this magic is..._

Several hours later, Harry walked out of the Library, extremely satisfied with his afternoon's work. He had found several spells to work with: 'Abscondo', which would make one almost completely invisible- several orders more powerful than the Disillusionment charm. There was 'Occaeco", which would blind the target for a few minutes. Finally, he found 'Subduco', which would allow one to leave one's body for a few minutes, allowing one to interact with the world as normal, merely without being visible and being unable to perform magic or be damaged. The main problem with this spell was how much it took out of you. Using it for more than five minutes would leave you unconscious. Of-course, all of these spells were rather advanced, and it would take Harry a lot of training to learn them.

Harry wandered down to the dungeons and dumped his bag in his dorm, before heading up to the Great Hall for dinner. He took a seat in between Draco and Parkinson.

"Potter, look at these," Draco said, handing Harry a bright green badge. "SUPPORT HARRY POTTER!" was written on them. Harry smirked.

"Not bad for an afternoon's work," he said.

"That's not all," Draco grinned. He tapped the badge once with his wand, and it turned a dark brown, colour. The writing had changed to "LONGBOTTOM STINKS!" He laughed out loud.

"Draco, these are brilliant!" Harry exclaimed.

"Weasley and I spent most of the afternoon working on them," Draco said.

"You worked with Ginny willingly?" Harry asked disbelievingly. Draco blushed.

"Well, she was helpful," Draco shrugged, trying to look unabashed.

"_Helpful_, was she?" Harry raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"How was your lesson with Snape," Draco asked, changing the subject. Harry shushed him, not wanting anyone to hear.

"Later," Harry said, giving Draco a meaningful look, before scooping some carrots onto his plate. Parkinson, was scowling at her dinner on the other side of him. Harry rose a questioning eyebrow at Draco, who mouthed "later" back at him. Harry nodded, understanding. Draco was almost certainly the reason for Parkinson's mood.

Parkinson had developed a certain infatuation with Draco over the past year or so, but Draco was too much of a coward to tell her that he didn't like her, so she hadn't backed off yet. Instead, Draco liked to blank and avoid her as much as possible, but she hadn't taken the hint.

Later that evening in the common room, Harry and Draco were sitting playing a game of chess.

"Rook D5," Harry said, taking Draco's pawn. "So, what did you do to piss off Parkinson this time?" Draco groaned.

"Knight D5, check. She was annoyed that I asked Weasley to help me make the badges rather than her. She _hates _you, why would I want her to help?" Draco said. Harry smirked.

"So you asked _Ginny_ to help you then?" Harry grinned. "Are you sure that you wouldn't want to 'sully yourself with such filth', as you so eloquently put it?" Draco went bright red and didn't answer.

"How was your lesson with Snape?" Draco tried, again dodging. Harry sighed.

"Alright, since I won't get any answers from you, and I did say I'd tell you.. The first task is dragons." Draco paled.

"Oh," he said faintly. "Do you have a plan?" he asked hopefully.

"I have the makings of one." Harry replied. "The dragon won't even know I'm there." He then proceeded to tell Draco all about the spells he'd found.

After he'd finished, Draco said, "OK, I'm more confident now than I was ten minutes ago, but even so. A _dragon_!"

"I know. But imagine how Longbottom'll do.." Harry said, winning a snort from Draco. "He'll be killed in ten minutes."

Harry was the last one to fall asleep in the dorm that night. He'd told Ginny and Blaise about the task earlier that evening, and they'd expressed similar statements to Draco. They all seemed to think that he was as good as dead, and offered to help him at every opportunity with the spells. Harry declined though, as being alone allowed him to concentrate better.

At around midnight, he remembered the letter which David had given to him earlier, and jumped out of bed and walked over to the pile of dirty robes by his bed. He pulled out the letter, which was in a green envelope, and walked back over his bed, and climbed back in.

"Lumos," he whispered, opening the envelope.

_Harry,_

_I was under the impression that we warned you what would happen if you entered the tournament, yet you did so anyway. You seem to ignore our requests at every turn, and are disappointing in every sense of the word. However, Dumbledore reminded us that for the next year, you're in the public eye, and to disown you would harm my career. So now, I offer you an ultimatum. Allow Neville Longbottom to beat you, or you will spend the next two summers in an orphanage._

_Your Father._

Harry rolled his eyes at his father's stupidity. _Did the man not realise the reason that Harry entered the tournament in the first place? This merely made it easier for Harry, as it almost guaranteed him a place to stay at the end of the year. If he won, he could buy a house, while if he lost, he could stay with his 'family'._

"Enter," Harry walked through the door into Snape's office.

"Potter, I'm assuming you found something?" Snape asked.

"Yes, I found three spells that could come in useful." He then told Snape all about the spells.

"Interesting," Snape said. "I doubt Occaeco would do much, as Dragons are extremely spell resistant, but the other two show promise. The third one may be slightly out of your depth, or indeed, out of the depth of the vast majority of wizards, but I digress. We shall focus on Abscondo, and if you master that after a few weeks, we'll try the body-projection one. But Abscondo will be our priority." For the next few hours, Harry worked on the spell with Snape, to no avail. He was as opaque as he was at the start of the evening.

When he finally left late that evening, Snape said to him, "A decent effort. The spell is more difficult than any you'll learn during your time at Hogwarts. There're still several weeks between now and the task, and I have no doubt that you'll master it if you put in the effort. In order to give you more time to practice, you will not have to hand in any homework until the task. Now go and get some sleep." Harry walked back to the dungeons, frustrated at himself. He didn't really expect to manage it first time, but he had hoped for some progress.

No other teachers seemed to be allowing Harry to slack off in the same way, so he was rather busy for the next few weeks. His workload in Transfiguration, Defence and Charms was many times greater than that of last year. Divination was a skive, as always, where Harry and Blaise made up predictions consisting mainly of bad accidents and death. Harry found Ancient Runes particularly interesting. This year they had moved on from the basics of runic language to actually learning about the application of the runes in magic, and their purpose in warding. Indeed, Harry could now create a basic detection ward with four cornerstones.

Most evenings Harry spent practicing the invisibility spell in an old abandoned dungeon Snape had allowed him use of. One week after the first lesson with Snape, he managed to make himself slightly translucent. He was over the moon and decided to take the rest of the evening off. He walked back to the common room with a skip in his step. He looked around for Draco or Blaise, but they were nowhere to be seen. He spotted Ginny sitting with her friends in armchairs at the other end of the common room.

"Ginny! Ginny!" Harry said, running over, excited. She turned her head and saw him running towards her.

"Hey Harry," she smiled, taking her eyes off the essay she was working on. "What's gotten you so excited."

"I did it! I made progress!" Harry said.

"You managed the spell?" she asked. Harry's grin faltered for a second.

"Well.. no. But I can now make myself ghostly!"

"Does somebody want to tell Portia and I what you're talking about?" Astoria asked from the sofa. They both ignored her.

"That's great!" she said, getting up and giving him a hug.

"Come and see!" Harry said, leading her out of the room by the hand. Neither of them noticed a certain blonde boy in the corner of the room glaring at Harry.

**A/N Well, tell me what you think? To be completely clear, whomever Harry ends up with at the Yule ball probably won't be who he's paired with in the end. To the reviewer that posts four reviews after every chapter, on four separate accounts each within two minutes of the next, please stop. I appreciate your support, but it's kind of fraudulent. Please vote in the poll. Next Chapter- The First Task and Yule Ball preparations.**


	5. Chapter 5

That Friday, Harry was in potions, making a swelling solution with Draco. Draco was unusually grumpy, and had been for a few days, rarely talking, not even taking the chance to take the piss out of Longbottom. Harry was just adding the newt tails when a third-year Gryffindor appeared at the entrance to the dungeons.

"Excuse me, Professor Snape?" the boy said. "I'm supposed to escort Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom to the Entrance hall."

"They will be along once they've finished their potion, Mr Creevey," Snape said. The boy, Creevey, hesitated for a moment.

"Professor," he said. "Professor Dumbledore said that they were to be taken to the Entrance Hall now." Snape bristled.

"Very well," he spat. "Both of you, out of my sight!" Harry nodded.

"See you in the common room?" he asked Draco. Draco grunted in response. "Whatever," Harry said, and strode out.

"So, Harry," Creevey said, while they were waiting for Longbottom. "What's it like being Hogwarts Champion?"

"It's fine." Harry answered shortly. "Basically the same as not being one."

"He's lying," said Longbottom, walking out of the dungeon behind them. "Potter's loving the attention." Harry's eyes narrowed.

"What in the world made you think that?" Harry asked, trying to keep his temper. They started walking up the stairs to the entrance hall.

"Please," Longbottom snorted. "I've seen those badges." Harry smirked.

"Did you like them? They were made with you in mind.." Harry said, laughing.

"We'll see what happens after the First Task, Potter. After all, you may or may not be alive.." Longbottom said.

"Likewise. We wouldn't want to see you _burned to a crisp_.. would we?" Harry replied. Longbottom narrowed his eyes at him, and they walked the rest of the way to the hall in silence. Once they reached it, Creevey led them through a door off to the side. Krum, Delacour, Dumbledore, Madame Maxine and Karkaroff, along with Ollivander were inside. A man with an unnecessarily large camera stood in the corner with a blonde witch with a rather large quill in one hand and a notepad in the other. Bagman walked in just after Harry.

"Sorry I'm late, I was speaking with some goblins," Bagman said.

"Neville, Mr Potter, welcome." Dumbledore said jovially. "Now that everyone's here, we can begin."

"Not yet, Dumbledore. Photos!" Bagman boomed. Harry groaned inwardly.

After several minutes of pain (the reporter wanted photos of each of the champions individually, as well as a group photo and a bonus one of Harry and Neville), the ceremony finally began.

"I think we'll start with Mr Krum," Ollivander said. "Your wand, please." Krum, ever-scowling, handed his wand over to Ollivander. "Yes, this seems to be in order.. One of Gregorovitch's, hmm?" Krum nodded. "Avis!" A flock of birds shot out of his wand. "Very good."

"Miss Delacour, now.." The Delacour girl handed her wand over. Ollivander examined it for a few minutes. "Veela hair core?" he asked. Delacour nodded.

"One of my Grandmuzzer's" she said with a thick French accent.

"I've always found Veela hairs to be a bit temperamental, but if it suits you, I suppose." He waved the wand, and a fountain of wine came spraying out. He handed it back to her.

"Mr Longbottom..." Ollivander said, slightly creepily. Longbottom handed his wand to the man. "Ah, yes.. I remember this as if it were yesterday.. 11 inches, phoenix feather core, great things..." he descended into muttering. There was silence for a minute.

"Umm.. Mr Ollivander?" Longbottom said. Ollivander looked up.

"What? Oh yes, everything seems to be working. Here's your wand back." he said distractedly, passing the wand back. Ollivander's gaze now rested on him.

"And now, Mr Potter. One of my most difficult customers.." Harry nodded uncertainly. "I had to custom build you one in the end, didn't I? We went through every one in the shop, and not one suited you.." Harry handed his wand over to the man. "Fifteen inches long... one of my longest creations. Fir wood, unusual for wands as it tends to be rather brittle, but it seemed to suit you. And the core... a hair from the tail of a sphinx." Everyone in the room was paying attention to Ollivander now. Harry scowled. The man had put a spotlight on him, and the reporter was now eyeing him with much more interest. While Harry wanted to be champion, he would quite happily go through the whole tournament without doing any interviews.

Ollivander duly handed him his wand back, after ensuring its functionality. The reporter then stepped forwards.

"Time for interviews now!" she said, clapping her hands together. "Who first?" She looked over at Longbottom predatorially. "Yes, I think Mr Longbottom first." she grabbed him rather forcefully. "The rest of you, wait here. We'll be back in a jiffy!" She dragged Neville out of the room and out of sight.

Nearly ten minutes later, she was back. "Mr Potter next, I think." Not allowing Harry to get a word in, she grabbed him and took him, quite forcefully, into the nearest broom cupboard.

"This is cosy, don't you think?" she said. Harry stared at her blankly. "Well then, let's get started. You don't mind if I use a quick-quotes quill, do you?" Harry stared at her blankly. "I'll take that as a no, then," she said, becoming slightly unnerved. "How does it feel being the youngest champion in the tournament? Why is your wand combination so odd? What is the significance of the sphinx tail hair? Do you think you have a chance? Why do you think Neville Longbottom was chosen as the Fourth Champion? How do your parents feel about you entering the tournament? Are you worried for the first task?" She looked at him expectantly. Harry continued to stare at her blankly. After a one minute stand-off, she finally lost her temper.

"Are you dim, boy!? Do you not understand what I'm saying?!" Finally, Harry showed some expression. He smirked.

"Nope." He walked out of the cupboard, closing the door behind him. He knew he would probably regret it, but it was rather satisfying to make her think she was getting an interview, then take it away from her, like a kitten with a ball of wool. He hummed a tune as he headed down to the common room, in a rather good mood.

_**Hogwarts' Champion Harry Potter- Unhinged?**_

_Mr Harry James Potter, son of James and Lily Potter, is a rather intriguing character. Yesterday I had the privilege of interviewing the boy after the traditional 'Weighing of the Wands' ceremony. _

_Mr Potter, 14 is a rather sensitive soul, with a hint of something darker hidden underneath. When queried about his family's view on him entering the tournament, he replied, "Proud, for the most part, although worried for me. I told them that there was no way that they would let anyone die at Hogwarts. They wouldn't, would they?" Harry Potter looked up at me with watering eyes. It was at that moment that my heart broke, dear readers. Looking at young Mr Potter, getting cold feet this early into the tournament, I am unashamed to say that I shed a tear. How could anyone let a fourteen year old boy, with little-to-no common sense enter this barbaric tournament?_

_However, he isn't as soft as was first made out. I can reveal that Mr Potter is a Slytherin, from a line of Gryffindors as far back as can be recorded. This side of him leaked out when I mentioned Neville Longbottom, the Boy who Lived, and Hogwarts' second champion. Harry scowled. "Longbottom cheated his way into the tournament, and personally, I hope he dies rather soon into the tournament. Longbottom and I don't get on well." This disturbing nature only compounds the bad reputation of Slytherin House..._

In anger, Harry ripped the paper to shreds. Several people across the hall were staring at him, glaring at him, but he didn't care.

"What a load of fucking tripe," Harry said. "I said nothing like that to that woman."

Draco looked at him like he had grown a third head. "Potter," he said slowly. "Did you piss off Rita Skeeter?"

"Yes."

"Then you got what you deserved." Draco said. "Nobody's reputation survives an angry Rita Skeeter. You're an idiot. What did you say to her?

"Absolutely nothing. I blanked her completely." Harry said. Draco sighed, pinching his nose.

"You know, sometimes I wonder why you're a Slytherin and not a Gryffindor."

()()()()()

It was the Thursday before the task. Harry walked into Snape's office for the very last time before he faced the Dragon. Snape looked up at him.

"Any progress?" he asked. Harry shrugged his shoulders hopelessly. Every night for the past three weeks, he had spent several hours practicing Abscondo, but after the first translucent breakthrough, there was no further progression. It was rather disheartening, and it was all that Harry could do not to spend every last moment thinking of his impending death by dragonfire.

"Let me see." Snape said. Harry pulled out his wand.

"Abscondo!" His body disappeared for a second, then flickered back into a ghost-like state. Harry sighed. "Finite." His body reappeared. "That's as far as I've gotten."

"Well, it's obvious we aren't going to get any further unless we try a different approach... I wonder..." Snape paused in thought. After a minute or so, Harry spoke up.

"Sir?" Snape jumped.

"Of-course.." he said. "Who was the author of the book in which you found this spell?"

"Some bloke named Raczidian." Harry said.

"That would explain it," Snape said. " Raczidian was a dark wizard in the fifteenth century. I won't go into detail about him, but in all likelihood that spell is dark magic."

"Is dark magic banned in the tournament?" Harry asked, worried. Snape shook his head.

"No. Dumbledore wouldn't be too impressed seeing you use it, but it isn't banned. However, there is a difference in how one casts dark spells, compared to normal ones." Snape paused, staring directly into Harry's eyes. "Dark magic is fuelled by emotion." Harry thought about it.

"So, what emotion would power this spell? Happiness? Fear?" Harry asked. Snape shook his head.

"It doesn't quite work like that. Say that I wanted to fire a dark curse at you. I would need to be angry, or at the very least contemptuous in order to do it. For Abscondo, merely practicing in a safe and secure environment won't work. In the task, the need to hide yourself from the dragon would suffice as necessary emotion, but it should be tested first."

"So.. I should find a situation in the castle where I need to use the spell for a reason, then try it?" Harry said slowly. Snape nodded.

"That's your best chance," he said. Harry grinned.

"You are aware that you've just given me leave to spy on people for the next few days?" Snape rolled his eyes.

"Get out, and practice that spell Potter."

**A/N- Next chapter- the First Task! Please vote in the poll on my profile for the pairing you'd like to see. Tell me what you think about the story so far. What could i do better, what do you like, what would you like to see?**


	6. Chapter 6

_Where could I use the spell? I could go and spy on the Gryffindors, try and sneak into their common room for a laugh, but there are so many secrets in Slytherin, that would be really useful to know for blackmail._ Harry's mind was filled with possible ideas, all so amusing and useful, when he heard voices coming from around the corner. His heart started racing. He forced himself to panic. _I need to hide. I can't be caught down here._ "Abscondo," he whispered. A rush ran through his body. He looked down, and jumped backwards in fright. His body had disappeared entirely. Although he was kind-of expecting it, being unable to see his arms, but know that they're there was rather unsettling.

The voices were getting closer, no longer just muffled noise. "...think he'd mind?" a voice asked. It was male, but their voice was breaking. That narrowed it down to someone between third and fifth year. Harry moved closer to the corner, heart pounding.

"Who cares what Potter thinks?" another voice said Harry froze. He knew that voice. It was Nott. "Do what you like, Potter's too preoccupied to do anything. And anyway, after Saturday, he'll be dead!" Nott laughed, the echo travelling through the dungeons. _That means the other voice must _be... Draco Malfoy turned the corner, alongside Nott. They walked right past Harry, not noticing him at all. _I'm actually doing it! I won't die!_ "Be careful that you don't get too attached, though. Your Father would never let you marry such filth, and neither would hers, for that matter. Can you imagine, the blood-traitor daughter of Lucius Malfoy's worst enemy marrying his son? It would shame him, Draco." _They were talking about Ginny?_ They continued walking down the corridor at a brisk pace. Harry followed at a distance, trying to muffle his footsteps.

Malfoy sighed. "I know, but I can't stop thinking about her. I know nothing can come of it long term, but if I go to the Yule Ball with her, I can maybe get her out of my system, then get on with my life. But it's probably irrelevant, as Potter will probably ask her too, and she'll pick him over me. She fawns over him almost as much as he does her. He's as obvious as a Gryffindor about liking her."

Harry had heard enough. He turned and walked away from them. _Malfoy__ likes Ginny?_ Harry was incredulous. Malfoy had never shown anything but disdain towards the third-year. Their paths rarely crossed, unless Harry made it so. They had never really had a conversation. _So Malfoy just thinks she's pretty?_ Harry considered it. He could see, objectively, why people might consider Ginny pretty, with her flaming red hair and chocolate brown eyes. But he had never thought of her that way. _Absolutely not._ _She might be pretty, but she's not for me._

As he entered the Slytherin common room, he realised he'd been entirely distracted from his success. It hit him fairly suddenly. I_ successfully cast Abscondo! I probably won't die on Saturday!_

()()()()()

"Eat up, Potter," Draco said. "Mummy and Daddy are here to watch you, and you don't want to give them the satisfaction of watching you burn to death on an empty stomach, do you?"

Harry poked the scrambled eggs with his fork. "That makes no sense," he said. "Wait, did you say Mum and Dad were here?"

Draco sighed. "Yes, they're sitting up at the staff table, next to Longbottom's Grandmother." Harry looked up, and there they were. James Potter, was leaning back in his chair next to McGonagall, laughing, seemingly at a joke he had just told. Harry looked down the table. Nobody else was laughing. Lily was pale as a ghost, not really eating anything, or talking to anyone. To her left sat Augusta Longbottom, who was scowling at her food rather ferociously.

Harry went back to poking at his food. He looked at his watch._ In under three hours, I will face a Dragon._ Feeling queasy all of a sudden, he stood up and started running to the bathroom.

"I'm gonna hurl!" he said to Draco as he started running. As it happened, he didn't reach the bathroom. "Evanesco," he muttered, and last night's dinner vanished.

"Scared, Harry?" a voice behind him whispered in his ear. Harry jumped, turning around. James Potter stood there, grinning to himself. _Deep breaths, Harry._ He forced the scowl from his face.

"Is there any particular reason you're here?" Harry asked blankly.

"One must keep up impressions, for now at least." James said. Harry nodded.

"Is there any particular reason you're talking to me?" Harry asked.

"To remind you of the consequences of what you will do today."

"Ah, yes," Harry sneered. "The letter. It's a tempting arrangement, but I'm afraid I must decline. Under no circumstances do I want to be living under the same roof as you next year."

Anger flashed across James' face. "Of course, after today, hopefully it won't matter.."

That did it for Harry. "When did it happen, _James_?" he spat. "When did the man who told me bedtime stories, who played Quiddich with me in the field, who stayed up with me all night when I was afraid of the monsters, when did he stop being my father and turn into _this_? Is it because of my house? Is it because of my friends?" Tears were flowing out of Harry's eyes now.

James' eyes narrowed. "The moment I found out the truth!" he hissed. "You're a bastard, Harry! A lie! You are no Potter!" _Wait, what?_

"What the hell are you on about," Harry asked impatiently, regaining control for a second.

"Are you dim, boy? I'll spell it out for you. Your biological father is not me!" James said. "You are no Potter!" he repeated.

"What am I then?" Harry asked

"A nobody." James said. "A dead boy. And if you survive, a homeless boy!" He turned away, walking back to the great hall.

"I will win this tournament just to spite you, _Father_," Harry snarled.

"Of course you will.." came the sarcastic reply.

()()()()()

Stepping out into the arena, Harry heard the crowd cheer. _Ignore them. They can only distract me. Focus on the horntail. _James waved at him mockingly from the crowd. _You can think about that later. There's no point worrying about it if you're going to die before it matters._ The Hungarian Horntail was resting at the bottom of a slope, almost on top of the eggs. The cheering seemed to stir the beast, as it opened its eyes, now looking directly at Harry. He tried not to shrink away in fear.

He crouched down, picking up a rock. The crowd was eerily silent. Then, to the shock of everyone, including the Dragon, he lobbed the rock at the Horntail. It knocked her on the wing. The crowd was now filled with murmurs, aggravating it seemed suicidal. It turned to face him. _Now or never._

Harry raised his wand. _I need to hide. I need to hide. The dragon will kill me if I don't._ "Abscondo!" he yelled. He lifted his hands to his face. _Gone._

"Where'd he go?"

"What happened to Potter?"

The dragon seemed to be thinking along the same lines. Frustrated that it couldn't find him, it let out an almighty roar. A column of flame came flying out of its mouth which Harry deftly moved out the way of.

The task was simple after that. He crept around the beast, that was flailing madly in frustration, picked up the egg (Ludo Bagman shouted "The boy's tricked us! Genius! He was there all along! That's one hell of a Disillusionment charm!,"), and headed into the tent on the other side, where the other champions were waiting, with Madam Pomfrey. An avalanche of relief came over him, clutching his golden egg tightly to his chest.

"How are you for injuries, Mr Potter?" Pomfrey asked.

"Not even a scratch," Harry replied cheekily. She gaped at him, along with the other three champions.

"Very funny, Mr Potter," she said. "Now sit on the stool so I can examine you."

"No really, Madam Pomfrey." Harry said. "The beast didn't get close to me."

"Very well," she said irritably, walking out. There was an awkward silence in the tent. Harry analysed the conditions of the other three champions. The Delacour girl's skirt was slightly singed and she had small burns on her legs. Krum's face was red and blistering, Harry supposed his dragon had burnt his face. Longbottom had come out with his shoulder torn open.

A few seconds later, Delacour stood up. "Eet seems I 'ave underestimated you, 'Arry Potter. You 'ave earned my respect." she held out her hand. "Fleur Delacour."

Harry grasped the hand, shaking it firmly. "Harry Potter. It's a pleasure," he said, smiling. She smiled back at him. _She does have a beautiful smile..._ It didn't escape Harry's notice that Longbottom was glaring angrily at him. _Delacour obviously didn't give him the same treatment._ He allowed himself an inward smirk at that.

A minute later Harry had to dash outside to receive his results. Crouch went first, waving his wand. A golden ten appeared above Crouch's head. Bagman gave him a nine. _Looking good so far._ Frowning at him, Dumbledore gave him an eight. _He's probably annoyed at my usage of Dark magic, but can't reasonably give me any lower._ Another ten from Maxine, followed by a six from Karkaroff. _Biased prick.._ _That gives me a total of.._

"It seems our youngest champion is in the lead, with a score of 43! That'll certainly lower the odds on the boy!" Bagman boomed. Harry glanced up at the stands, seeing James and Lily standing and clapping. James was smiling at him, but Harry could see the barely contained fury behind his eyes. Harry merely smirked back at the man.

Banishing the thoughts of 'Harry not-Potter' to the back of his mind, he allowed himself to be paraded into a press tent. Several photos were taken of him holding his egg, and a few of all the champions were taken, in various combinations. Then, for one final picture, the Potters were all ushered into the tent, for a family picture. David did a surprisingly good job of acting excited for Harry's victory. Something nudged against Harry's robes.

"Sorry Harry," Lily said absentmindedly. Harry checked his pockets and felt a small piece of paper drop in. He nodded at her. _Message received._ The Potters were removed from the tent, while Harry stayed for one last photo of all the champions. After, he walked out and bumped into Rita Skeeter.

"Harry, I was wondering if you could give me a few words for my article?" Rita asked, baring her teeth.

With the adrenaline still pumping through his system, Harry said. "Harry Potter is in this tournament to win, and will take no prisoners." Then walked off to catch up to Blaise and Draco who were already half-way up the hill to the castle.

He checked the paper in his pocket, remembering it suddenly.

_ Meet me in the shrieking shack at midnight. I'll tell you everything then. Mum._

**Sorry I'm late. I'm just lazy. Review please. Tell me what you think. Who're Harry's real parents? Remember to vote on the poll on my profile for the paring please./strong/p**


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